Day: September 15, 2021

Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu and Secretary-General of Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmad Hassen Al-Hammadi shared their view that the two countries have great potential for cooperation, during their online talks on September 15.

Hieu noted with pleasure the active development of cooperation and friendship between Vietnam and Qatar over the past time, especially in politics and economy.

The two sides have exchanged all-level delegations, while actively supporting each other at multilateral forums, the official further explained. Despite difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, their two-way trade still expanded from 313 million USD in 2019 to 550 million USD last year, he added.

Ahmad Hassen Al-Hammadi, for his part, lauded achievements Vietnam has recorded in politics, foreign affairs and socio-economic development, and emphasised that Qatar always attaches importance to boosting multi-faceted cooperation with Vietnam.

The two sides compared notes on measures to consolidate and enhance the bilateral cooperation in the time ahead, with attention to be paid to online exchanges between leaders of ministries and agencies.

They will continue their close coordination at international forums and organisations, and maintain existing cooperation mechanisms regularly and effectively.

Both stressed the significance of coordination in organising online trade and investment promotion activities, and speeding up negotiations and signing of cooperation agreements to complete the legal framework for bilateral collaboration.

The two sides also agreed to cooperate in the pandemic fight. Vietnam called on Qatar to help the country with access to COVID-19 vaccine sources and other medical supplies.

The officials also exchanged views on regional and international issues of shared concern.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s economy will recover on the back of solid growth achieved in the first half of 2021 after the lockdown is lifted, Dorsati Madani, Senior Economist at the World Bank (WB) Vietnam, has said.

The economy is likely to bounce back strongly from the end of the third quarter, similar to how it has recovered after the lockdown was eased in April last year.

She said though Vietnam is facing multiple economic risks due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, its economy has proven to be resilient and dynamic. The country was among a few nations sustaining positive economic growth last year.

The economist also expressed her hope that the Vietnamese economy can rebound in the future as a result of the recovery of its major markets, such as the US, China, and the EU.

Last month, the WB forecast Vietnam’s GDP to expand by about 4.8 percent in 2021, two percentage points lower than its projection last December.

“Whether Vietnam’s economy will rebound in the second half of 2021 will depend on the control of the current COVID-19 outbreak, the effective vaccine rollout, and the efficiency of the fiscal measures to support affected business and households, and to stimulate the recovery,” said Rahul Kitchlu, WB Acting Country Director for Vietnam.

“While downside risks have heightened, economic fundamentals remain solid in Vietnam, and the economy could converge toward the pre-pandemic GDP growth rate of 6.5 to 7 percent from 2022 onward.”

The WB is waiting for figures to be released by the General Statistics Office (GSO) by the end of this month and the Vietnamese government’s decision on reopening the economy to revise its GDP prediction.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has hailed the important role of internal affairs agencies in the country’s political system, describing them as a key, faithful force and a sharp precious sword and a solid shield in safeguarding the Fatherland, maintaining social order and discipline, and protecting the people, Party, State and regime.

The Party leader made the comment while delivering a speech at a national conference of agencies in charge of internal affairs across the country to implement the 13th National Party Congress’ Resolution, which was held on September 15 in both in-person and online forms with the participation of more than 4,600 delegates across the country.

He held that the agencies have actively given useful advice to the Party and State in directing the settlement of corruption and negative phenomena in a timely and strict manner, thus affirming the Party and State’s determination and efforts to combat corruption with the spirit of not allowing any “restricted areas and exceptions”.

Regarding future tasks and orientations, the Party chief asked these agencies to make early forecasts and right evaluations of the situation, clearly identify risks and put forth recommendations to the Party and State in order to safeguard the interests of the nation, and ensure security and order.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong underlined the need for the agencies to keep close contact with the people and place the people’s interests to the highest and first position, protect brave officials who dare to think, work, speak out problems, take the responsibility, make innovations, confront difficulties and challenges and act for the common benefits.

Officers, soldiers and public servants from the agencies should keep vigilant, sustain mettle and stay brave to defend the right without being affected by any impure pressure, temptation and bribery, he stressed.

The Party leader expressed his belief that with the tradition of solidarity and high sense of responsibility, internal affairs agencies will effectively implement the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, thus continuing to strongly reform their organisational apparatus and operations, gaining more achievements and making greater contributions to the cause of national construction and defence.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

If the COVID-19 pandemic is put under good control in September, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth may reach 3.5-4 percent in the whole year, said Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung.

The minister held that although the predicted result is lower than the set target, it requires greater efforts of the whole political system and localities.

If this scenario becomes true, 2021 will be the second year that Vietnam fails to complete its growth target, which will affect the implementation of the overall development plan for the 2021-2025 period. Last year, Vietnam’s GDP growth only expanded 2.92 percent due to impacts from the pandemic.

Dung held that social distancing measures have greatly affected production and business activities as well as employment. Meanwhile, the cost for pandemic prevention and control is high, which affects the State budget collection and spending, he said, adding that the pandemic have also impacted on the establishment of new firms and the attraction of foreign direct investment.

Particularly, weak domestic consumption of agricultural products and high prices of input materials have also caused difficulties for businesses’ production expansion, he said.

The minister reminded localities to grasp all opportunities to catch up with the recovery trend of world major economies which have great impacts on the Vietnamese economy. He suggested that some localities should not depend on only one or two foreign-invested firms to secure economic growth.

In order to boost economic growth in the rest of the year and 2022, Dung pointed out a number of solutions, including the good control of COVID-19 and the avoidance of another outbreak that may crack down production and supply chains.

Besides, localities should increase meetings and dialogues with local businesses to create a more favourable investment environment for them, while ensuring social security, supporting pandemic-hit people, and actively building their own economic recovery plans.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A state-level funeral was held in Hanoi on September 15 for General Phung Quang Thanh, former Politburo member, former Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission and former Minister of National Defence.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong sent a wreath to commemorate General Phung Quang Thanh, while many incumbent and former national leaders attended the funeral.

Lao Ambassador Sengphet Houngboungnuang led a delegation from the Lao Embassy in Vietnam to pay tribute to the late General. The Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and the Ministry of Defence of Laos also sent flowers to mourn General Phung Quang Thanh.

The memorial services for General Thanh was held from 1:30pm the same day. In his eulogy at the funeral, Politburo member and Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, head of the organising board of the funeral, underlined that General Thanh was a brave communist, a talented leader and commander with high prestige of the Party, State and military of Vietnam. His death is a great loss of the Party, State, military and people of Vietnam, leaving deep sorrow to Vietnamese people, his family as well as foreign friends, Minh stressed.

General Phung Quang Thanh passed away after a period of illness at 3:45 am on September 11 at his private home in Hanoi.

He was born on February 2, 1949 in Thach Da commune, Me Linh district, Hanoi (formerly in Vinh Phuc province).

He was a member of the 9th, 10th and 11th Party Central Committee, member of the Politburo of the 10th and 11th Party Central Committee, and deputy of the National Assembly in the 11th, 12th, and 13th tenures. He was awarded the rank of General in July 2007.

His military career was a shining example of heroic fighting spirit, resilience, will and efforts to rise up. General Phung Quang Thanh was honoured with the Ho Chi Minh Order, the title ‘Hero of the People’s Armed Forces’ and many other noble titles./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Supporting industries, a sector prioritised for investment and development in Vietnam, is facing a host of shortcomings and new issues that require effective solutions.

In the recent time, the sector has seen its connectivity and supply chains strengthened, gradually forming its ecosystem and increasing the localisation rate.

In 2020, Vietnam stepped up its programme on support industries development to help firms boost their production and business capacity and gain opportunities to join global production chains. Meanwhile, many multinational manufacturing groups planned to invest in Vietnam or expand their existing projects in the market.

However, the sector’s growth remains slow and has yet to meet demand from domestic for-export industries, hence a low localisation rate and value added of domestically-produced products.

In recent years, manufacturing and processing industries contributed nearly 40 percent of the economy’s total production and business revenue, but only accounted for about 14 percent of the GDP. Their value added was much lower than that of other industries.

In addition, due to the weak growth of supporting industries, the manufacturing and processing sector relies heavily on imported materials and components. As a result, when COVID-19 broke out, they faced various challenges to ensure their production inputs. The pandemic has triggered a constant shortage of materials along with difficulties and congested delivery of finished products. To boost the development of supporting industries, it is necessary to ensure the market and the purchasing power of consumers; as well as to improve domestic production capacity and the quality of vocational training. Therefore, insiders said there is a need to early revise problematic regulations in related development policies, and devise solutions for enterprises to boost their financial capacity. Supporting industries should continue to be considered a priority area.

The Government issued a resolution last year on measures to further propel supporting industries, setting out development goals for the next decade.

Accordingly, Vietnamese enterprises are to be able to produce highly-competitive support products, meeting 45 percent of essential needs for domestic production and consumption and accounting for about 11 percent of industrial production value by 2025.

The country should have about 1,000 enterprises capable of directly supplying for assembly enterprises and multinational corporations operating in Vietnam, with domestic enterprises to account for about 30 percent by 2025.

By 2030, locally-made support products should meet 70 percent of domestic demand and account for about 14 percent of industrial production value. Some 2,000 companies are to be capable of supplying directly to assemblers and multinational corporations by 2030.

To implement the resolution, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has identified that the development of supporting industries will follow the direction of selecting fields that require investment suitable to different periods. It also chose a number of key industries such as auto, electronics, garment and textile, and leather and footwear.

In a report submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee and legislators early this year, the Government cited statistics showing that companies in supporting industries account for nearly 4.5 percent of all manufacturing and processing businesses and have created more than 600,000 jobs, equivalent to 8 percent of the workforce in the manufacturing and processing sector. Their net revenue now tops 900 trillion VND (38.9 billion USD), or about 11 percent of the sector’s total.

Some Vietnamese enterprises boast relatively good capacity in producing moulds, bicycle and motorbike components, electrical cables, plastic and rubber components, and tyres, meeting domestic demand and the requirements of foreign importers.

The report noted that supporting industries play a decisive role in restructuring the economy, improving workplace productivity and skills, and promoting the competitiveness and quality of Vietnamese goods and the economy.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisation (VUFO) on September 15 presented the “For Peace and Friendship among Nations” insignia to the Consul General of Thailand in Ho Chi Minh City, Apirat Sugondhabhirom, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the Vietnam-Thailand diplomatic ties (1976 – 2021).

The decoration was awarded to the Thai diplomat in recognition of his valuable and effective contribution to maintaining and strengthening the friendship and partnership between the people of Vietnam and Thailand.

At the award presentation ceremony held via video teleconference, Chairman of the Vietnam-Thailand Friendship Association (VTFA) in HCM City Dinh Khac Duy congratulated Apirat Sugondhabhirom, saying since the Thai diplomat began his mission in HCM City in 2019, he has worked tirelessly to nurture and further develop the two countries’ bilateral ties.

The Consulate General of Thailand has sponsored a number of charitable projects, including those providing free life-saving surgeries for children with congenital heart defects and cataract surgeries for impoverished patients in HCM City and Tay Ninh.

It has also offered scholarships to orphans and students from disadvantaged backgrounds and sent Thai students to participate in volunteer work in the southern city, while hosting various cultural and youth exchange events to enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples.

Expressing his honour to receive the medal, Apirat Sugondhabhirom said he always treasures his friendship with Vietnamese people and will do his utmost to further beef up the bilateral ties. He affirmed Thailand’s commitment to stand by Vietnam’s side in combating the COVID-19 in the context that the pandemic is ravaging globally and regionally.

Via the HCM City VTFA, the diplomat presented 30 scholarships to Vietnamese students with excellent academic performance in the city.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate at 23,117 VND/USD on September 15, down 13 VND from the previous day.

With the current trading band of +/-3 percent, the ceiling rate applicable to commercial banks during the day is 23,810 VND/USD and the floor rate 22,423 VND/USD.

The opening hour rates at commercial banks stayed stable.

At 8:30 am, Vietcombank kept both rates unchanged from September 14 at 22,640 VND/USD (buying) and 22,870 VND/USD (selling).

Both rates at BIDV were also kept unchanged at 22,665 VND/USD (buying) and 22,865 VND/USD (selling).

Source: Vietnam News Agency